Dear Percy, Love Annabeth
by AryaTyrell
Summary: Percy chose to be immortal, but Annabeth still keeps in touch with him through letters.
1. Chapter 1

**Letters are my new thing now. **

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><p><strong>January 1<strong>

Dear Percy,

I love beginnings. If I had my way, every day would be January 1.

And what better way to celebrate this New Year's Day than to begin writing a letter to one of my closest friends.

I found something today. Something special. The thing is, it's been right in front of me ever since I've been born, but today is the first time I really saw it. It's a field. A plain old vacant field. No house in view except a little white stucco bungalow off to the right. It's a mile out of town, a one-minute bike ride from my house. It's on a hill. It used to be a pick-your-own-strawberries patch (haha, like Camp Half-Blood) but now it grows only weeds and rocks.

I've biked past this field hundreds of times, but for some reason today I stopped. I looked at it. I parked my bike and walked to it. The winter weeds were scraggly and matted down, like my hair in the morning. The frozen ground was clody and rock-hard. The sky was gray. I walked to the center and just stood there.

And stood.

How can I explain it? Alone, on the top of that hill, in the middle of that "empty" field (Ha! Write this down, Percy- _Nothing _is empty), I felt as if Olympus radiated from me, as if I were standing on the X that marked the center of the cosmos.

Translation: It was a pretty strange feeling. But I liked it. I like that field.

**January 3 **

I just realized I never sent my list of New Year's Resolutions to you.

1. Find a decent bookstore. (The local Barnes and Noble closed because no one reads books anymore, which is completely ridiculous. Ridonkulous ((Is that how you spell it?)). There are some run-of-the-mill bookshops in the mall and in the airports but they're not big and comfy like Barnes and Noble. Moreover, they don't sell gift cards).

2. Start making some more of Daedalus's inventions (I haven't started anything since last summer, due to... certain events. Har har).

3. Beat Clarisse at chess (She's surprisingly good. I'm starting to wonder if my siblings are teaching her or if she's just naturally good and no one noticed. Well, Ares doesn't really approve of "sissy games" like chess, anyway).

4. K.I.T. with mom (If possible).

5. K.I.T. with you (Always possible).

**January 10 **

Oh, Percy. I'm sad. I'm crying. I used to cry a lot when I was little. If I stepped on a bug I'd burst into tears. Funny thing- I was so busy crying for everything else I never cried for myself. Now I cry for me.

For you.

For us.

And now I'm smiling through my tears. Remember the first time I saw you? At Camp Half-Blood? (Well, actually, the first time I saw you was when I was feeding you ambrosia when you were sleeping, but that doesn't count). You were playing pinochle with Chiron and Mr. D. I was just kind of wandering around. Your eyes- that's what stopped me in my tracks. They boggled. I think it wasn't just the sight of me- blond hair, tan skin, gray eyes, blah blah blah- it was something else too. Then Chiron called me to go do something and I saw it- it was surprise. You looked like a deer caught in the headlights. You recognized me from the infirmary, didn't you? I breezed on by, but I felt your eyes on me the whole time, Percy. Oh, yes! Every second. When I was walking to Cabin Eleven I thought: Maybe someday I'll date that deer in the headlights. It was just a passing thought and I dismissed it quickly. I never dated you, Percy, not really. You, of all people. It's my biggest regret... now, see, I'm sad again.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love! XX. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**January 13 **

_The Best Little Field _

Yesterday afternoon I asked Clarisse (who is now head of Ares cabin) whether she would please be so good as to allow the Athena cabin to use the field in Camp Half-Blood three afternoons a week, from two to five-thirty (see how polite I am?). We already use the field every day from one to two-thirty while the Ares cabin is taking a nap, but the rest of the time the field is off limits; the Apollo kids use the field in the morning for archery practice.

So it seemed like a reasonable request, and I asked Clarisse very politely. What do you think her reply was? "No." Just plain "No!"

I was incensed and wasn't about to let myself be put off like that. I asked her the reason of her "No," but this didn't get me anywhere. The gist of her reply was: "We have to practice too, you know, and if we can't do that in the afternoons we won't be able to fit it in at all. Besides, you aren't serious about fighting. Chess and reading- what kind of sport is that? We use that field and we aren't going to give it up!

I replied, "Clarisse, we do take fighting very seriously. I would appreciate it if you would reconsider our request!" Having said these words, the insulted Annabeth turned around and marched away. I was seething with rage and felt that Clarisse had been incredibly rude (which she certainly had been) and that I'd been very polite.

That evening at dinner, when I managed to get hold of Chiron, I told him what had happened and we discussed what my next step should be, because I had no intention of giving up and preferred to deal with the matter myself. Chiron gave me a rough idea of how to approach Clarisse, but told me to wait until the next day since I was in such a flap. I ignored this last piece of advice and waited for Clarisse at the campfire.

I began, "Clarisse, you seem to believe further discussion of the matter is pointless, but I beg you to reconsider."

Clarisse smiled at me like she was about to spear me. "I'm always prepared to discuss the matter, even though it's already been settled."

I went on talking, despite Clarisse's repeated interruptions. "Clarisse, it's camp rules that everything is used and handled fairly. If we were to do it that way, you'd have four whole days on the field and we'd have three days! We're not asking for that much, but three afternoons a week does seem very reasonable to me."

And once again she brought up the business about the chess and the reading, and once again Annabeth was insulted. However, I showed no sign of it and let Clarisse finish: "But no, it's impossible to talk to you. You're too self-centered. No one else matters, as long as you get your way!"

She went on and on until there was such a deluge of words I could hardly keep up. For one fleeting moment I thought, "Her and her lies. I'll smack her ugly mug so hard she'll go bouncing off the walls!"

At long last Clarisse's fury was spent, and she left the campfire triumphantly. I went running to Chiron and recounted the entire story. Chiron decided to call Clarisse to the Big House that same evening, and they spoke for more than an hour. Mr. D. took Clarisse's side. First they discussed whether the Athena cabin should be able to use the field at all. Chiron protested strongly, and so the conversation went, back and forth, with Chiron defending Athena's "pansy games" and "useless activities."

Clarisse and Mr. D finally had to give in, and we were granted an opporunity to practice without interruption three afternoons a week. Clarisse looked very sullen and didn't speak to me for two days and made sure she occupied the field from ten to noon and five-thirty to six- all very childish, of course.

Anyone who's so petty and pedantic at the age of eighteen was born that way and is never going to change.

**January 16 **

Clarisse has the misfortune of adorning foreign words without knowing what they mean. Today Connor and Travis let off a few stink bombs (natural ones this time) in the bathrooms, and Clarisse put up a sign to warn everyone of the smell.

"RSVP- gas!"

Of course, she meant "Danger- gas!" but she didn't have the faintest idea that RSVP means "Please reply."


	3. Chapter 3

**January 17 **

I'm sinking slowly  
>So hurry hold me<br>Your hand is all I have to keep me hanging on

Please can you tell me  
>So I can finally see<br>Where you go when you're gone


	4. Chapter 4

**January 18 **

It started snowing today, as I'm sure you know (being all buddy-buddy with the weather god and all). Today, when I was looking for something warm to wear, I came to the shocking conclusion that I only have two hoodies (one of them's yours- you forgot it last summer), one windbreaker, and a pair of boots to last me the rest of the winter. Chiron's given me permission to go out and buy something new.

I went with Rachel. Remember, Rachel Dare? The one who... never mind. Anyway, I managed to find some mortal money at the bottom of my trunk (Dad sends ten dollars to me every Christmas. I don't go out much, so I've basically been hoarding it for about ten years). Rachel and I grabbed a taxi and drove up to downtown.

"I can't believe it. I'm actually going shopping," Rachel's eyes stared hungrily at the clothes hanging in the display windows.

"I can't believe it, either," I murmured. Not that I was happy to be shopping, but I was surprised I was. "So, um, where's a good place to shop?"

Rachel looked at me, puzzled. "You've never been shopping in downtown New York?" she asked. I nodded miserably. "Then you have never had a teenage life."

"Hey!"

"Annabeth, you are the _only _girl I know who asks me, 'Where's a good place to shop' when we are standing in between Coach and Louis Vuitton."

"Speak English, please."

Rachel goggled at me. "You have no idea what those are?"

I shook my head again.

Rachel tutted in disapproval. "They're high-end stores. That's all you need to know." We walked in silence for a bit. "Hey! The Gap!" Rachel pointed.

"Gap in where?" I asked.

"No, the store," she explained patiently. "See?"

"Ohhh," I said, feeling stupid. "Another high-end store?"

Rachel shrugged. "Not really. It depends on what you buy. Come on, let's go, before all the good stuff's taken," she yanked me inside.

It was really warm inside, like I'd just stepped out of the freezer and into a toaster. The room was buzzing with quiet conversation, and the latest pop tunes blared out of the overhead speaker. People milled around, folding clothes, taking them off the rack, putting them back on the rack.

Needless to say, I felt very out of place. "Okay. So.. um.. what now?" I asked Rachel, who was trying on some sunglasses from a nearby rack.

"Anything you want," she said, looking in the mirror.

"Excuse me?"

"Go wild in here. Walk around. Pick out what you want. Try it on. If it fits, go buy it," Rachel told me.

"Err.. okay.." I said, wandering away. Thankfully, most of what Gap sold were T-shirts- in every color! You can't imagine how happy I was.

Okay, okay. I know what you're thinking. _Annabeth, you're so boring. Can't you and buy something totally outrageous, sexy, and expensive for once_?

Nope.

Guess I'll add that to my list of New Year's resolutions...

**January 22 **

The snow's really coming down hard this year. We're six inches deep and it's only been two days. Are you sure Zeus isn't mad at you or something?

Anyway, we took advantage of the snow and had this huge snowball fight with the all the cabins except the Aphrodite kids (They didn't want to mess up their hair). Connor and Travis are _really _good at aiming, and they knocked our fillings out. The Ares kids got really competitive over who could throw the hardest though, and before you know it Hermes and Ares are chucking snowballs at each other. Then the Hephaestus cabin tries to break it up, and it ends up into one massive snowball massacre. The Athena, Hestia, and Demeter cabins took this opportunity to get hot chocolate from the mess hall and watch the carnage.

Good day today. :)


End file.
